My Problem
by Animorphs007
Summary: Ib is an art thief who makes a novice mistake. Garry is a pyromaniac who set his neighbor's house on fire. Mary is a murderer who just wants her friends to be with her forever. What happens when these three are taken to an asylum for therapy? Will they get better? Or will they successfully escape?
1. Chapter 1

**My mind comes up with the strangest ideas... I hope you guys like crime and craziness because that's what this story is all about. This story is rated T because of Mary's violent actions. Ib is a well known art thief. Garry is a pyromaniac. Mary is a murderer. Let's see if they will get better or worse when they get together. **

**I don't own Ib. I do like the characters, though. **

My Problem: Chapter 1

How we got here

-Ib-

The streets were nearly empty outside the Guertena art gallery. That was probably because it was 2:00 on Monday morning. No one would want to hang out in a closed art gallery except for an art thief.

A girl crept around to the back entrance. She had straight brown hair that fell past her shoulders and bright red eyes that glanced around her cautiously. She wore a black long sleeved shirt, black form-fitting pants, soft soled shoes, black gloves, and a belt with small pouches for her tools.

The girl took out a lock pick from one of the pouches and expertly opened the door. No alarms were going off, but that didn't mean the security system wasn't working. She would have to hurry.

The girl ran as quietly as she could to the paining her mother had told her about. It was called 'Serpent's Spirit'. The painting basically looked like a mess of colors to her, but her mother had told her that it was very popular. And since Caroline Jule was a retired art thief, she knew what kind of art her daughter Ib should steal.

Ib brought down the painting from its place on the wall and tucked it under her arm. She took her signature red rose from a pouch to drop it carelessly on the tiled floor.

She was about to leave, but a colorful shimmer caught her eye. In a glass case further down the hall were some shiny gems.

Ib only meant to look, but when she moved to that hall she caught sight of a night guard. The guard noticed her movement and shone his flashlight in her direction.

"Who's over there? You're in big trouble, you hear?" the guard called as he ran over to investigate.

Ib turned and ran, cursing her troublesome curiosity. If she got caught then her identity would be revealed. Her mom would be so disappointed.

She could hear the guard catching up to her, yelling for her to stop and put down the painting. She could only double her speed and make it to the door.

Just before she could push open the door to escape, she heard a computerized voice say "Security lockdown mode," over the loudspeakers.

Even though she knew it was futile, her hand tried to shove the door open. It was locked firmly, signifying that it was too late to run. She had no other choice but to turn and face the consequences.

-Garry-

A man with wavy lavender hair stepped out of his car and slammed the door angrily behind him. He was home from work early, but he wasn't happy about it at all.

He threw open the door to his house and stormed to his room. He took a cigarette from the pack on his dresser and lit it.

He couldn't believe his boss would just up and fire him out of the blue. After a year and a half of working at the Book Nook, his boss decided to fire him because of a few mistakes. How was he going to make money now?

The man, Garry Baker, took his lighter in his hand and lit it. He watched the flame burn, letting the strange, anxious feeling that built up inside of him trickle away. But it wasn't enough. He needed to watch this flame consume something.

He shut the lighter and them he took a box of firecrackers from under his bed along with a blue rag doll.

He took these things out to his backyard where a small crater of dirt was. Garry dropped the doll in the crater and backed away a bit before starting his fun. He started by lighting fire crackers and throwing them at the doll. When he was sure that those were spent, he walked to the doll and let his lighter ignite it.

Garry stepped back and watched the captivating flame. He didn't know why but whenever he saw fire, he felt so much calmer and more focused than when he didn't. And he felt a negative feeling build the longer he went without seeing fire. The calm was flowing into his mind now, but it wasn't as satisfying as the other times. He needed to burn something bigger.

Without really thinking about the effects of his actions, he took a paperback book from his pocket, lit it on fire, and threw it over the fence to his neighbor's house. His neighbor was away at work, so she wouldn't be around to get hurt.

The paperback book hit the wood paneled side of the house and burned there. The fire spread to the side of the house, travelling upwards as the flame consumed.

Garry was so mesmerized by the enormous flames that he didn't notice the attention the smoke was getting from the other neighbors until the shriek of sirens approached the neighborhood. As firemen went to work putting the fire out before too much damage could be done, two police officers approached Garry.

"Are you Mr. Garry Baker?" one officer asked.

"Yes." Garry glanced between them confusedly. What could they possibly want from him?

The officer that spoke stepped forward and placed his hand on Garry's shoulder. "Garry Baker, you are under arrest for damaging private property and causing a disturbance in this neighborhood." The police said before leading Garry to the police car parked in front of his house.

~Mary~

A teenage girl walked up to a cute one-story house in a small forest outside of town. The girl had chin length red hair and pale green eyes. She seemed uncertain because she'd never been to the house before.

She knocked on the door and waited patiently until it opened. Another girl on the other side of the door smiled brightly at her. She had golden wavy hair and clear blue eyes. She wore a dark blue and green dress with a black sash around the waist and no shoes or socks on her feet.

"Hi Mary. I got your invite." the ginger greeted the blonde.

The blonde girl's smile widened. "I knew you'd come soon, Nikki. Won't you come in?"

Nikki walked in, and Mary Guertena shut the door behind them. The sitting room they entered was furnished simply, but had masterful artwork hung on the wall. "Sweet paintings!" Nikki complimented politely.

Mary smiled with a faraway look in her eyes. "You really think so? My dad painted them."

"He's skilled. Ah, didn't you say this was a party? Where's everyone else?"

"They're taking their refreshments downstairs." Mary told her, pointing to the door. "You go on ahead. I need to get more sweets."

"Okay." Nikki went to the door and walked down the stairs. Despite all the lights being on, it was still dimly lit. Halfway down the stairs a peculiar smell drifted to her nose and only got stronger as she continued.

"Ugh, it smells like something died down here." Nikki said, holding her nose. At the bottom of the stairs was a door. She opened the door and entered a dark room.

There was a single lamp on a table against the far wall. Nikki could see the figures of two girls sitting at a table. The table was set up with a decorative tray containing a tea set, small cakes, and cookies.

Nikki slowly approached the table, feeling the fine hairs on the back of her neck stiffen at the sense of danger. She noticed that the girls' postures were very loose, as though they were asleep. Also, they haven't moved since she arrived, not even to acknowledge her presence.

"You must be Mary's friends. How do you do? I don't believe we'd met before. My name's Nikki. Who are When they didn't respond, Nikki poked one of them in the shoulder. She jumped back in fright at the unnaturally cold temperature of the girl. "D-dead!" she exclaimed.

"They are not. They're my friends." Mary said from behind her. "And since you agreed to be my friend, they're your friends too."

Nikki spun around in surprise to see that Mary was carrying a plate of cookies in one hand and a palette knife in the other. "What is this?" Nikki demanded.

"It's a friendship party!" Mary grinned maniacally at the redhead before placing the plate of cookies on a small table. "We're going to be friends forever, just like Macy and Kate. Won't that be fun?" Mary approached Nikki with the palette knife in her hand.

"P-please don't k-kill me!" Nikki bumped into the table behind her in her haste to avoid the knife.

In the next few minutes, the house was filled with shrieks of fear and pain along with peals of laughter. Then silence fell over the house again. Mary stared at the scene she had caused and giggled. "I may have gone overboard, but oh well. I had fun. Wasn't that fun, Nikki?"

Mary paused in wait for an answer that would never come. She laughed, "Silly Nikki, look at how dirty you've gotten! But don't worry, I'll clean you up. That's what friends are for!"

Mary went over to a cupboard and pulled out her needle and thread. By the light of the lamp and with some water she brought down, Mary cleaned and stitched together the wounds. If it weren't for the blood on her clothes and the emptiness in her green eyes, anyone would think Nikki was still alive.

"There. Now I'll introduce you to my other friends." Mary pulled the corpse over to the waiting chair and set her so she was facing the other bodies. "Nikki, this is Macy and Kate. Kate and Macy, this is our new friend Nikki."

The rest of the afternoon went on like that with Mary fawning over her new 'friend' until late in the night. Nikki's parents constantly called Nikki's cell phone and were worried when she didn't answer.

In the morning, Mary left her 'friends' in the basement while she went to school. After a day of learning, she hurried home with plans of a tea party after re-doing her friends' hair. She didn't expect to find a police car parked outside of her house.

"Mary Guertena." a police officer called from the porch.

She couldn't run, so Mary smiled sweetly. "Afternoon, officer. Long time, no see!"

The police officer frowned disapprovingly. "Mary, are you aware that Nikki Mare has been missing since yesterday?"

A concerned look crossed Mary's face. "She wasn't at school today… I assumed she was sick."

The police officer shook his head. "It has been a year since Macy went missing, half a year since Katherine went missing, and now Nikki… It's odd how they went missing after they've been friends with you for awhile…"

"I don't understand. Are you saying they went missing because they're my friends? I'm a good friend, officer."

Another police officer walked out of the house with an ashen face. Before Mary could protest in anger, the officer she talked to held out a signed paper. "It's a search warrant, Mary. Before Nikki disappeared, she showed her parents a party invitation to your house. It raised suspicions. What did you find, Jones?"

"The missing girls are dead. Their corpses are in the basement." The other officer said.

"They aren't dead. They are my friends. They'll be my friends forever and ever. Ahahahaha!" Mary giggled.

The police officers exchanged a disturbed look. "Come with us, Mary. We know some people who, uh, want to hear more about your friends." one officer told her as he led her to the car.

"Am I going to make more friends? I love making friends!" Mary said enthusiastically when she got into the car. The police officers had to suppress shudders of disgust as they drove her away.

**I don't know how well this story is so far. Please review and tell me what you think. **


	2. Chapter 2

**I'm sorry it takes me so long to update. I guess too many stories at the same time does this to me. But never fear! I will do my best to update my stories as often as I can! **

**Garry: Don't lie. You've been playing games and vacationing without even thinking of us!**

**Mary: Shall I get the pallet knife?**

**Ib! Distract them with the disclaimer! *runs off with a pyro and murderer chasing after***

**Ib: Kour owns Ib. Ani owns nothing but her pencil.**

My Problem: Chapter 2

_Fabricated Therapy?_

~Garry~

"Mr. Baker, the jury has come to a decision. They found you guilty." The judge boomed from his podium.

Garry sighed in defeat. He knew that it would come to this. He could explain to them the feeling he experienced when he wasn't burning things until he was blue in the face and it wouldn't change anything. No one in court could understand the feeling.

"The plaintiff has given you some options for your fine. You can pay the 40,000$ fee for damages…"

Garry flinched at the ridiculous number. Was it really that much in repairs or was his neighbor moving to a new house? He certainly couldn't pay that much off quickly.

"You can go to prison for 5 years."

That one didn't sound as bad as the first to Garry, but he felt that it was a bit much. He just set his neighbor's house on fire, so his sentence shouldn't be that bad.

"And the last option is to go through the new therapy session for a year."

"Therapy?"

"Yes. It's the Fabricated Therapy. It's a bit of an experiment. The doctors try all kinds of different psychological treatments at once in a completely safe environment." The lady in the plaintiff stand, who also is the neighbor, answered pleasantly. "It will help you with your problem, Garry."

Garry glared at his neighbor. She was the reason he was here, facing these choices. But she had a point. If he hadn't had the urge to burn down his neighbor's house, he wouldn't be in trouble in the first place.

Even though he didn't think it would help him, Garry decided on the easiest choice. "I guess I choose to try Fabricated Therapy."

"Good, now get outta here." The judge dismissed the people from the courtroom. Garry was led away to the holding cell again. He was to begin therapy immediately.

~Ib~

Ib sat calmly on one side of the table. At the other end, her mother sat with a glass screen separating them. Both ladies had a telephone pressed to their ears, but they didn't seem to know what to say.

"Ib… I'm very disappointed with you." Her mother started sternly. "A master thief should never be caught stealing."

Ib winced and tightened her grip on the phone. She remained silent as Mrs. Jule continued to scold. "You ought to have trained better and focused on the escape rather than the entry. Maybe you saw something else you wanted to steal. You must never be too greedy, Ib. It'll make you careless."

The young art thief lowered her head in recognition of her error. "You could go to jail for years for being caught. But because that would ruin the family reputation, I don't want that for you. The young psychologists here think they can turn you around with special therapy."

"…" Ib stared at her mother with a puzzled expression.

Mrs. Jule leaned closer. "Listen, Ib, this Fabricated Therapy thing is both a punishment and a test. If you never get caught again, you won't have to be punished with it again."

Ib nodded in understanding. Her mother smiled grimly. "You'll have to go there for a year. Apparently schooling is provided. But while you are there, don't fall for their mind games."

Ib stared at her mother expectantly with her red eyes. "It's disappointing Ib. Red Rose the art thief has finally had her identity revealed. And over a simple mistake." With a final shake of her head, Mrs. Jule left Ib to deal with her error alone.

Ib silently was led back to her holding cell. She sat with her delicate shoulders hunched sullenly. She was already feeling the weight of her mistake. Her already difficult career was only going to get harder now that she was caught. In order to continue stealing art, she'd have to move to another city, or maybe even a different country.

Her mother already distrusted her. She probably would have to come out of her retirement to make up for the time Ib would lose on this therapy. Ib would need to regain her mother's trust and her reputation as an art thief through hard work and patience.

While her cellmates pointedly ignored her, Ib wondered why she had to go to this new therapy and what she would have to do to pass her mother's test.

~Mary~

"I want to go home!" Mary shouted to anyone who would listen. She was standing in an interrogation room, handcuffed to a table that was bolted to the floor. She couldn't sit because she kicked her chair to the wall at the beginning of her tantrum.

The interrogation had gone great at first. The police got as much of a confession as an insane teenager could give. But then an officer made the mistake of telling Mary that she would have to go away for a while. Mary didn't want to go anywhere. Her friends would be lonely without her.

The officers gave up trying to reason with the screaming girl. She wouldn't listen to anything anyone would say. They figured she would tire herself out eventually.

Even when she stopped screaming about wanting to go home, she would glare at anyone who would mention Fabricated Therapy. "You can go to therapy or jail for your crimes. Which is it going to be?" the officer in charge offered.

"I want to go home." Mary rasped frustratingly. She couldn't understand why they wouldn't just take her home. She didn't believe she did anything wrong after all.

"You could make friends while at therapy." He suggested.

Mary remained silent for a while, but she showed interest. "Will it be fun in therapy? Will I make friends?"

"It'll be like a sleepover. You know what a sleepover is, right?"

"I read about them all the time in my making-friends books. They sound fun!"

"Yeah, so you'll go?"

"But… what about Macy, Kate, and Nikki? They'll get lonely without me!" Mary realized how selfish she was not thinking about her friends. Maybe they could come with her to therapy.

"I think they are being taken to a place where lots of people can visit them. They'll be alright. And you can visit them too."

"…Okay then. As long as they're alright. And I'll be making new friends too!" Mary chatted contently as though her tantrum never happened. The police officer breathed a sigh of relief and grimaced in disgust whenever Mary mentioned the word friend.

~Lylia Mental Hospital~

Three pairs of high heels clacked down the cold tiled hall. The ladies they were attached to were in a hurry, but were too professional to walk any faster.

The three ladies looked almost identical except they had different eye colors. They all had waist length brown hair and were short, despite the heels of their fashionable shoes. One had red eyes, another had blue eyes, and the last had yellow eyes.

They strode down the hallway to a door marked 'Dr. Han G. Mann Ph. D.' and entered the room beyond after knocking. "You sent for us, doctor?" the red eyed lady greeted the man sitting behind an impressive mahogany desk.

The man had messy brown hair and beady black eyes. He wore a light grey dress shirt with a dark grey tie and black formal pants. He also wore a serious expression on his face as the ladies waited for him to speak.

"New patients are coming in tomorrow. I want you three to take care of them. Here are their files." The man pushed three manila folders towards the ladies.

The lady with the red eyes picked the one on top and opened it. The first page had general information about the patient.

'Jule, Ib. Age 16. Student. Father is a wealthy salesman. Mother is a housewife. Arrested for stealing famous artwork.'

"Seems young to be undergoing this therapy." the red eyed lady said dryly after showing the other two.

"Her parents were quite insistent on her coming. I'm quite interested in this patient's situation." Dr. Mann gave the lady a half smile. "I knew you would pick this patient, Red. I trust that you will be able to make her understand that stealing is wrong?"

"Yes sir!" the lady backed away to flip through the papers in the file.

The lady with yellow eyes bit her lip as she slid the next file to her. She read silently with wide eyes.

'Guertena, Mary. Age 15. Student. Father is deceased. Mother is missing. Arrested for murdering 3 victims.'

"I heard about this on the news." the yellow eyed lady finally spoke. Her voice wobbled with a bit of uncertainty and fright.

Dr. Mann frowned with disappointment. "This one might be a challenge, Yellow. Nonetheless, I'm confident in your abilities as a psychologist."

"T-thank you sir. I'll do my best." The lady stammered as embarrassment flushed her cheeks.

The blue eyed lady cooly lifted the file and read it boredly.

'Baker, Garry. Age 19. Unemployed. Father is unknown. Mother is a pharmacist. Arrested for burning someone's house.'

"How is he going to be able to pay for this therapy? He doesn't belong here." The blue eyed lady tossed the file back on the desk with disinterest.

"His neighbor requested that we make his better. I'll be paying for any expenses on his behalf. Just do what you can, Blue." Dr. Mann frowned at the lady as she thought about that. Eventually, she nodded her consent and picked up the file.

"That is all I wished to speak with you about. Go make the preparations for your patients. You are dismissed." Dr. Mann watched as the ladies shuffled out of the room with their patients' files clutched in their hands and gave a sigh. He was entrusting the most dangerous patients to his most loyal doctors. They weren't the brightest, but definitely the most loyal.

**I would like to thank my reviewers and my friend Maggie! Thank you so much for being awesome! *glomps everyone* **

**Oh, and let me know if you have ideas for this story! I take requests! And let me know if I offend or made an error, please.**


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